


Drowned Steel

by Johnnybunny



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-19 02:59:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11888535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johnnybunny/pseuds/Johnnybunny
Summary: This is a less-rushed, and a to-be more complete version of the Seven Avatars.To begin, we'll be following Korinai during a camping trip with his friends and get an understanding for their general antics, personalities and whatnot.





	Drowned Steel

A blue sky, lightly clouded here and there. Telephone poles passing by. Groupings of trees and fields as far as the eye could see.

 

Korinai felt a nudge on his shoulder, and he snapped back to reality. Reality being him and his dearest of friends going on a camping trip. He's sat in the back-right seat, and on his left a girl has elbowed him. Tony, is her name. "Hey Kori, you alright?"

 

His breath hitched as he took air in. He sighed, and gave his awkward smile. "Yeah! Yeah... I was spacing out as-as I do, you know? How long until we get to the campsite?" He tried not to look nervous but his hands were clasped together and thumbs fiddling, but it was going to be the entire group of friends there, how could he not?

 

Tony put her hand over Korinais white-knuckled clasp, lowering her voice. "Kori, it's your birthday tomorrow. We're gonna set up camp, consume copious amounts of weed and beer to celebrate. What have you got to worry about?". Tony is the mom of the group. She's talked pretty much all her friends through bad times, and prevented some rather stupid decisions by some.

 

"I'm turning 17. I'm so close to being 18! It's so much responsibility to dump onto someone so suddenly, and I don't know if I am really ready for that yet..." Korinai felt annoyed feeling so vulnerable, but he trusted Tony implicitly like one would with their childhood best friend.

 

"Doesn't that excite you more-so than anything else? It does for me. Maybe it's just because my parents are hard-asses, but I personally can't wait for the moment I can move out...." A moment of silence between the two goes by, then she speaks up again. "Roll with the punches, and take the responsibility. If you don't, those responsibilities will hold your head underwater til the bubbles stop coming up." Jeez, for being a normally nice girl, her analogies get... dark.

 

Korinai nods. "Okay... I'll try and loosen up a bit." Tony gives a warm smile, and returns to her side of the car, releasing Korinais hands. He leans back in the car, and spaces out when he notices something. Alice was staring at Korinai through the rear-view mirror. Korinai knew that look. It was a look of intent, though he wasn't sure of which type. Alice seemed to un-tense and she left her eyes drift off, and Korinai did the same again.

 

After some time, Korinai was brought back from his imagination to gravel hitting the underside of the cheap-ass car they were in. They were close! "We're almost there, everybody wake up." The driver said, in a dead-pan way. He's the ever-serious Jeremiah Crane, though most people call him by Crane. If nothing else, the name fit's his height.

 

The crunching of gravel stops after a few minutes. Everyone's got their hands on the handles of the doors, ready to pop out the moment the cars engine turns off. After another small roar, it finally comes to a stop. He pulls out the keys and the engine dies down, and the four of them quickly leap out of the musty, cramped car.

 

Pops and cracks were heard from all four of the tired teens skeletons. It continued for about half a minute as they did every ridiculous pose to try and get every possible muscle loose and bone popped. After everyone finishes, a jingle of keys is heard. Crane pops the trunk, and all of their camping gear is stuffed to the brim. The gear breaths a sigh of relief as it was barely small enough to close the trunk door., and Crane leans up on the trunk door. "Okay, let's start divvying out the gear to carry. Tony, you could punch my head clean off with those arms, so snag the tents and the bag with the cookwear.". Tony giggles and bestows upon the group a flex of Zahhak level might. As she rummages through the trunk, Crane pushes his glasses back and turns his attention to Korinai. "And I remember your P.E. grade. Snag the foodstuffs and the 'Sauce and Spices' bags." Korinai rolled his eyes, thinking of a couple less obvious code names for their weed and alcohol. "Finally, Al-"

 

"Agh, s-sorry! Need to take an emergency piss!" She then potty-dances past the nearby bushes and disappears. Crane gestures towards a nearby outhouse, but by the time he could open his mouth, she was gone. Cranes expression changes completely and he leans up again the car, watching the area she disappeared to like a hawk.

 

Tony and Korinai are a bit unnerved by it, he's rarely serious to this extent. Crane gestures his head towards the two, but keeps his eyes locked onto that same area. He spoke a bit quieter as well. "Are either of you two noticing something strange about Alice?" Tony and Korinai seem to think for a moment humming, umming and uhhing, but ultimately give a shrug. He continued on "Every hour, almost like clockwork, she was pretty insistent on getting to a rest stop or a store to pee, which wouldn't be so weird if we actually had drinks in the car, but I made sure we saved 'em for the actual camping. The rest of us only needed to use the restroom once or twice at most."

 

"Maybe she's got a uh... Smaller bladder I guess? Or maybe some illness that's making her need to go more?" Korinai chimed in. He's always the type to play things off like this.

 

It's obvious from Crane he doesn't believe that for a second, but he finally breaks his gaze, and goes to grab Alice's share of carrying stuff. "Hopefully... you're right. I don't think I saw her snag any toilet paper though..." Crane is always the type to over-analyze things. He's constantly hyper-aware of his surroundings as well as social cues of himself and others. Most of the time he does just over-think things, however there have been times where he was right on the money, scarily so.

 

 Everyone but Alice is present and ready, so Crane calls out to the direction she ran off to pee. "Alright Mini-Bladder, we're headed up the trail to the north. You know, the path we didn't come up on. See ya at the campsite" The moment the group starts moving, all that can be heard is a distant and panicked " _aaaaahhh wait!_ " The rest continue on their way, Tony and Kori snickering between each other, and even Crane letting a smile crack onto his lips as they headed up the incline further.

 

Halfway to the campsite, Alice is finally able to catch up to the group. She exhaustedly pants like a dog as everyone stops to greet her. She tries to greet them, but has to recover just a moment longer. Korinai pats her on the back. "Jeez, what happened? Just a couple years ago I remember you being pretty strong. Now a short run and you're... well... Like me."

 

Alice took in a bout of air and brushed her bangs away, wiping sweat along with it. "Oh you know Assface, decided to clean up my act a bit and hey! Turns out you don't need to be strong enough to pummel a bar bouncer when you aren't an idiot." She grabbed the wrist that patted her with a crushing grip. Not all of her strength was gone it seems

 

Crane realized something about her past. To his knowledge, she never even got a gym membership or anything of the sort. She didn't even have the money or time to. The most he remembers her doing were things like shoplifting and other dumb stunts. The group all has their secrets, but something about Alices is... " _all over the place._ " He accidentally mutters to himself.

 

"What's that?" Tony asks, quick as a whip. The other two continue bickering.

 

To try and seem casual, he scratches the back of his neck and tries to play it off. "Sorry, just overthinking... stuff."

 

Tony sees right through it naturally. She is the group 'therapist' so to speak. She scoots up close to him as they all continue onwards through the trail, with a big dumb smile. "Sure, most people can't see the difference between your face when you are telling the truth or lying, but that doesn't mean I can't. There's a difference between overthinking, and something being on your mind. Let's take a walk after everything's set up, shall we?" She half-whispers, just enough so the others cannot hear.

 

God, is she always this perceptive about this sort of thing? It's hard to catch a break around her. Best to go the path of least resistance. "...sure. It's nothing big."

 

Before the others could stop messing with each other and listen in, Tony jogged up ahead. "Hey, I think I can see it!"

 

Half a minute more of walking, and the trees finally give breathing room. The campsite is laid out before them! Crane is the first one to set down his gear, and the rest follow suit as they unzip the bags and try to figure out the instructions on how to set these dastardly tents up.

 

tl;dr It goes about as well as setting up Ikea furniture for the first time.


End file.
